World Briefing | Europe: Germany: Sentence Trial For 9/11 Friend

By MARK LANDLER

Published: January 6, 2007

A Hamburg court began a hearing on whether to give a stiffer prison sentence to Mounir el-Motassadeq, the Moroccan who was a friend of the three 9/11 pilots. He was convicted in 2005 of belonging to a terrorist organization and sentenced to seven years in prison. But an appeals court ruled in November that he had been wrongly acquitted of direct involvement in the attacks. Now he may face 15 years in prison. A decision is expected next month. MARK LANDLER